Sea Dogs Win Another Thriller at Hadlock 2-1
Portland, Maine - The Portland Sea Dogs (71-41) were stymied all afternoon, but plated a pair in the eighth and took down the Reading Fightin Phils (45-64) 2-1, in front of a sellout crowd of 7,368, Wednesday afternoon at Hadlock Field. The win gives Portland the series, 3-1, and ups the season series to 13-5 in their favor.
Portland trailed 1-0 all afternoon, but turned it around in the eighth inning against the Reading bullpen.
David Chester singled with one out, but was erased on a fielder's choice hit into by Stefan Welch off of the lefty Austin Wright (2-1). Jonathan Roof was next and singled through the hole on the left side, against the southpaw, and put two on with two out for Heiker Meneses.
Dusty Wathan dipped into the pen one more time and called upon Colton Murray to end the threat.
Meneses came in to Wednesday's game hitting .185, but had reached two of three times on the day before stepping in, in the eighth. The shortstop ripped a line drive into the left field corner for a double, on which Welch and Roof both scored and gave Portland the 2-1 lead.
Noe Ramirez took the mound in the ninth and retired the side in order, picking up his second win on the year.
Brian Johnson climbed the hill for Portland in his 16th start and was tagged for a run in the first by the Fightins. The southpaw walked the leadoff man, Albert Cartwright, who then stole second and scored on Kelly Dugan's RBI single two batters later.
From there, Johnson put it in cruise control and retired the next 13 men in a row. Edgar Duran broke up the stretch with a walk in the sixth, but the lefty went through the next six hitters with no issue.
On the other side of the rubber it was former big leaguer Adam Loewen that kept the Sea Dogs off the board. Portland wasn't without its chances as out of the gate they loaded the bases with two down, but could not score.
The 'Dogs had at least one base runner in over the first four innings, but were kept scoreless by the southpaw. Loewen retired the side in order in the fifth, but gave up back-to-back singles to open the sixth.
Welch's sacrifice bunt pushed the two runners into scoring position, but a strikeout and fielder's choice ended the threat; as Portland left the bases loaded for the second time on the afternoon.
Brock Stassi led off the eighth with a walk and Sebastian Valle hit a sac bunt, which Johnson fielded and tossed to first for the final out of his outing. Ramirez (2-0) came out of the 'pen and retired the first two men he faced to close out the frame.
Johnson, Ramirez, and the Sea Dogs defense combined to one-hit the Fightins, marking the first time since August 8, 2009 that Reading had been held to just one knock.
The Sea Dogs remain home and welcome in the Trenton Thunder for the first of a four-game series, Thursday night at 6:00 PM from Hadlock Field. The Sea Dogs are slated to send RHP Justin Haley (0-0, -.--) to the hill for his Double-A debut against a starter that has yet to be named for the Thunder. Radio coverage begins at 5:40 PM on the WPEI U.S. Cellular Sea Dogs Radio Netowrk. MiLB.TV coverage begins at 5:55 PM.